Sports/football: Mali Dodges Nigeria In Olympics Race

Mali’s Female Eagles have pulled out of a first round qualifying fixture for the Women’s Football Tournament of the 2016 Olympics against Nigeria. 
A letter from world football –governing body, FIFA informed the Nigeria Football Federation of the development on Thursday evening.
“We would like to urgently share with you that the Mali Football Federation has just formally notified FIFA of the withdrawal of its women’s national team from the Olympic qualifiers. By way of consequence, both leg matches of the 2^nd round are cancelled and your women’s national team is automatically qualified for the 3^rd round matches. Further details regarding the 3^rd round will follow in due course,” wrote Gordon Savic, Head of FIFA World Cup and Olympics Qualifiers.
Savic also wrote to NFF’s Deputy Director (Competitions), Bola Oyeyode: “We thank you very much for your acknowledgement of our notification and we commend you for your excellent support in spite of the sudden new circumstances.”
Officials for the match, namely Mrs Delly Mankou Elise from Congo-Brazzaville (Match Commissioner), Mrs Maniyela Edu Okomo (Referee), Mrs Margarita Engono Abang (1^stAssistant Referee), Mrs Juliana Onva Okomo (2^nd Assistant Referee) all from Equatorial Guinea, and Reserve Referee Fatou Seye Ndeye from Senegal had all arrived in Nigeria on Thursday for the tie.
The development means Nigeria's team  advances to the third round of the qualifiers, with the first leg coming up mid-July, ahead of a final round of qualifiers scheduled for October 2015.